The number of billionaires increased to 2,682 from 1,757 over the past 10 years; Their total wealth increasing 121% to USD 14 trillion from USD 6.3 trillion, as per The 10th UBS Billionaires Ambitions Report
FinTech BizNews Service
Mumbai, 7 December, 2024 – UBS, the leading global wealth manager, has announced the launch of the tenth UBS Billionaire Ambitions Report, which tracks the wealth of more than 2,500 billionaires across the Americas, EMEA and APAC, focusing on the last 10 years. We also surveyed the views of a sample of UBS billionaire clients across the world’s main regions. “For 10 years, the report has been chronicling the growth and investment of great wealth, as well as how it’s being preserved for future generations and used to have a positive effect on society,” said Benjamin Cavalli, Head of Strategic Clients at UBS Global Wealth Management. “This tenth-anniversary edition looks back over the report’s discoveries of the past 10 years to identify the key developments in billionaire wealth.” “Our billionaire clients also gave valuable contributions to the making of this edition: we asked some of them to give us their opinions in a survey we conducted for the third year in a row. They see a proliferation of investment risks. But they also appear highly motivated to use all their resources – through philanthropy, investments and business – to benefit the planet and society,” Cavalli added.
Global wealth creation flatlines
Between 2015 and 2024, total billionaire wealth increased by 121% globally from USD 6.3 trillion to USD 14.0 trillion. For comparison, the MSCI AC World Index of global equities posted a smaller percentage gain of 73%. During this time, the number of billionaires grew by more than half, from 1,757 to 2,682. The peak was reached in 2021 with 2,686 billionaires. Since then, it has remained flat. Over this time, the impact of Chinese billionaires’ dynamism and consolidation has been clear. From 2015 to 2020, billionaire wealth grew globally at an annual rate of 10%. Since 2020, such growth has stalled at 1%. But that number masks continued expansion in the US, EMEA and parts of Asia, most notably India. Chinese billionaire wealth more than doubled from 2015 to 2020, rising by 137.6% from USD 887.3 billion to USD 2.1 trillion. Since then, it has fallen by 16% to USD 1.8 trillion. At the same time, the overall number of billionaires remains stable. By contrast, North American billionaire wealth has continued to accumulate. From 2015 to 2020, North
American billionaires’ wealth grew by more than half (52.7%) from USD 2.5 trillion to USD 3.8 trillion. And from 2020 to 2024, it grew by more than half again (58.5%) to USD 6.1 trillion, led by industrials and tech billionaires. In Western Europe, wealth accumulation has slowed slightly since 2020 against a backdrop of higher interest rates. It rose by 43.6% from USD 1.5 trillion to USD 2.1 trillion from 2015 to 2020, before increasing a further 29.0% to USD 2.7 trillion by 2024, led by tech billionaires in fields as varied as software, messaging and music streaming.
Tech leads over the 10 years
While regional differences have emerged in the past 10 years, tech entrepreneurs have played a steadily increasing role across the global economy. That has resulted in tech billionaires’ wealth growing the fastest of any sector, tripling from USD 788.9 billion in 2015 to USD 2.4 trillion in 2024. In earlier years, the new billionaires commercialized e-commerce, social media and digital payments; more recently they engineered the generative AI boom, while also developing cybersecurity, fintech, 3D printing and robotics. Industrials billionaires have increased their wealth by the second-largest amount – from USD 480.4 billion to USD 1.3 trillion – as nations invested to sharpen their competitive edge, especially in the green economy, to deal with demographic challenges and to support the economic trend of reshoring. Industrial policy interventions are benefiting technologically advanced businesses like aerospace, defense and electric vehicles. The sector lagging all others is real estate. Real estate billionaires performed in line with the broad universe until 2017 but have lagged since then, perhaps due to a combination of China’s property correction, the Covid-19- induced upheaval in parts of commercial real estate and higher US and European interest rates from 2022.
Equities, real estate, gold
Billionaires’ views on asset classes are shifting at a time when interest rates appear to be starting an easing cycle in the US and Europe, which may underpin economic growth. Over the next 12 months, 43% of billionaires intend to increase their exposure to real estate and 42% to developed market equities. At the same time, though, they’re increasing investments in perceived safe havens. The survey found that 40% intend to increase gold / precious metals exposures over 12 months and 31% cash. This could reflect fears of heightened geopolitical risk and equity market valuations. When it comes to alternative assets, billionaires are still investing in them – most likely for diversification – yet with some changes. While 38% still intend increasing their direct private equity holdings, only 28% plan to raise private equity funds / funds of funds holdings, with 34% intending to decrease them. More than a quarter (26%) intend to increase infrastructure investments and more than a third (35%) private debt. But hedge funds are looking less popular, with 27% intending to decrease investments and 23% aiming to increase. An increasingly bright spot is art and antiques, where almost a third (32%) plan to increase exposure more. That’s a significant rise from 11% in the previous year.
Billionaires on the move
The Covid-19 pandemic was a wake-up call for many people and led them to reassess their lives. Billionaires were no exception. With homes, family and businesses spread across different countries, billionaires have always moved. But since 2020, they’ve relocated more frequently, with 176 having moved from a total population of 2,682 in April 2024. That’s one in 15. They’re moving to countries such as Switzerland, the UAE, Singapore and the United States. In total, billionaires accounting for more than USD 400 billion have emigrated in four years, with the MEA region attracting the most billionaire capital.
Big regional differences in 2024
US billionaires accrued the greatest gains in 2024, reinforcing the country’s place as the main center for billionaire entrepreneurs worldwide. Their wealth rose by over a quarter (27.6%) to USD 5.8 trillion, accounting for more than 40% of billionaire wealth worldwide. The number of US billionaires grew by just over a tenth (11.2%) to 835. There were 101 new US billionaires – far more than the 20 individuals whose wealth dipped below a billion. Central and South America’s billionaires also had a good year. In Brazil, 19 new billionaires lifted the total to 60, and wealth increased by more than a third (37.7%) to USD 154.9 billion. Overall, Central and South America’s billionaires grew their wealth by a fifth (20.8%) to USD 411.4 billion, while their number grew from 74 to 92. Across the Americas region, the number of billionaires grew from 867 to 973 and their wealth increased by more than a quarter (26.9%) to USD 6.5 trillion. In the APAC region, the picture was mixed. Billionaires’ wealth from Mainland China and Hong Kong SAR fell by 16.8% to USD 1.8 trillion, while the number dropped from 588 to 501. In a market with a high rate of billionaire churn, 138 people’s wealth fell below a billion (partly offsetting this, 53 people became billionaires). Elsewhere in the APAC region, Indian billionaires’ wealth increased by 42.1% to USD 905.6 billion, while their number grew from 153 to 185. Forty people became billionaires against the backdrop of rising equity prices and rapid economic expansion. In the APAC region, growth in billionaire wealth flattened, increasing by only 1.8% to USD 3.8 trillion. The number of billionaires fell from 1,019 to 981. In EMEA, Western Europe’s total billionaire wealth rose by 16.0% to USD 2.7 trillion, due in part to a rise of almost a quarter (23.8%) for Swiss billionaires. The number of Western European billionaires climbed from 456 to 495. Within the Middle East and Africa, UAE billionaires’ aggregate wealth rose by 39.5% to USD 138.7 billion, with the number of billionaires growing by one to 18. The year’s new billionaires were mainly self-made. People becoming billionaires for the first time numbered 268, with 60% of them entrepreneurs. That reverses the position in last year’s report when most new billionaires were multi-generational billionaires inheriting money. As the great wealth transition gains momentum, though, we expect the proportion of multigenerational billionaires to increase.
What’s ahead
Looking to the next 10 years, billionaires face an uncertain world. It’s clear that governments must balance fiscal rectitude with mounting spending requirements, not least those associated with ageing populations. At the same time, geopolitical tensions will remain high, with ongoing barriers to international trade. Against this backdrop, billionaire entrepreneurs will need the distinctive traits identified as key to their success in a previous issue of this report: smart risk-taking, business focus and determination. Learning from the past 10 years of this report, risk-taking billionaires will probably be at the forefront of creating two technology-related industries of the future already taking shape: generative AI and renewables electrification. This year’s report shows how tech’s CEO founders are already leading the way, pursuing their visions with high conviction and an appetite for risk. In this time of rapid change, the roster of billionaires may be subject to a high degree of churn. In a world where billionaires’ families are more complex and mobile, wealth planning will continue to evolve. It will continue to stress simplicity that allows for the flexibility required by multilayered families living around the world, who may choose to move country from time to time. But there will also be a sharper focus on the
needs of individual family members, recognizing that everyone has different strengths and ambitions. Family governance will remain key, especially involving the next generations. In the 10 years of the study, multigenerational billionaires have inherited a total of USD 1.3 trillion. This amount understates the total inheritance as many heirs have not themselves become billionaires. Looking forward, we calculate that billionaires aged 70 or more will transfer USD 6.3 trillion over the next 15 years, mainly to families but also chosen causes. That is higher than 2023’s estimate of USD 5.2 trillion over 20 – 30 years, due to asset price inflation and the ageing of billionaires.
